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You don’t expect turn of phrases when you listen to Bassem Eid. He won’t apologize when clearly and precisely he shatters before you one after the other, all the icons of the pro-Palestinan narrative: the victimization of the Palestinians by the Israelis, the willingness of the Palestinian leaders to find a peaceful solution to the most mediatized and enduring postwar conflict, the intrinsic goodness of those organizations that proclaim to fight in defense of Palestinian people rights, the evil nature of the Israeli “occupation”.

Eid, born in East Jerusalem when the city was still under the control of Jordan, has dedicated a big part of his life to defend human rights and reporting abuses, in particular those of the Palestinian Authority. In 1996, he founded The Palestinian Humans Right Monitoring Group after leaving Israeli ONG B’Tselem due to its refusal to take into account a report of supposed human rights violations by the Palestinians.

An international lecturer, political analyst and pundit of Palestinian politics and society he is acknowledged by many as the leading Palestinian human rights activist around.

L’Informale has met him in Jerusalem.

In 1919, the General Syrian Congress emphasizes that the people living in then British Mandatory Palestine actually lived in what was know as Balad esh sham (the province of Damascus) or Surya–al–Janubiya (Southern Syria). In 1974, Hafaz al Assad declared, “Palestine is not only part of our Arab nation but a fundamental part of Southern Syria”. What is your opinion?

I am a person who tries to forget the past and tries to look forward, at least for the future of our children. I think that the Palestinians exists on this land like the Jews, there is no difference about this, and as the Palestinians have the right to exist also Israel has the full right to exist. Unfortunately such a kind of statement as the one you cited, from Hafez al Assad or whoever, just add more fuel to the flames. I don’t see a statement as this one as a possible solution to the conflict, it just make it harder and harder. Since 1948 until today, I haven’t seen either that the Arabs or the Muslims have provided any kind of help to the Palestinians. There have just been slogans, and slogans and slogans. The Arab leaders have used the Palestinian case to continue corrupting their own people under the umbrella of liberating the Palestinians from the Israeli occupation.

What are the goals of the Palestinians and how are they to be achieved?

We, the Palestinians, should be more and more realistic about our goal. Are we really interested in solving the conflict or just interested in managing it? Since the Oslo Agreement of 1993, after the arrival of the PLO in the West Bank and Gaza there has been no serious evidence that the PLO or the Palestinian Authority, from Arafat to Mahmoud Abbas, have been really interested in solving the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Arab-Israeli conflict has become the major source of money for the Palestinians leaders and as it has become a huge source of income I don’t believe that these leaders will ever think seriously to find a solution to the conflict. For example, think about Gaza. After the Israeli disengagement from it in 2005, Gaza is living in a huge disaster. The situation in Gaza before the Israeli disengagement was a 100% better than it is today. Hamas is holding two millions Palestinians by force and nobody there can speak not even one word against them. We have failed on every aspect of the political level so let us try at least to survive and try to improve the economic situation. Right now I don’t believe neither in the one state solution nor in the two state solution, and you know why? Because I think that we are not mature enough for a state, so if we are not mature enough for a state, at least we want to survive and in order to do so we need an economy that works. So, this, for the moment being is the most important goal to achieve.

What is your opinion in relation to international organizations such as the United Nations, UNRWA and UNESCO, which, on different levels, operate clearly one-sidedly against Israel?

Last year in May I was invited at the United Nations to a big conference called “Ambassadors against BDS”. It was the first time I entered in the United Nations headquarter in New York. When I got to the stage to speak, the first thing I said was, “I wish I could hold the keys of this building because if I would have them I will seal it forever”. UNRWA today and the UN and UNESCO and all of these international organizations have as their main aim in relation to this conflict, not to solve it but to manage it, and the reason is simple. This is because, as I have already said, the conflict has become a huge source of income. It is clear enough that while the UN is promoting resolutions against Israel and UNESCO is doing the same thing, they are receiving funding from countries with a precise anti-Israeli agenda. When UNESCO, through its deliberations uproots Jewish cultural roots in Palestine it is the equivalent of saying that Israel has no right to exist. This brings in huge amount of money, and this is what UNESCO is waiting for. The Palestinians are the victims of these international organizations. UNESCO denial of the right of Israel in Jerusalem, the right of the Jewish heritage in Hebron will not serve me as a Palestinian, it won’t give me a state. What we Palestinians obtain from these decisions is the opposite effect. They just make things harder for any peace talks. This is not the way to bring peace. All these international organizations of which UNRWA and UNESCO are part of should start evaluating their policies towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict because by acting the way they do they are just creating more and more obstacles on the way to any opportunity of peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

To what extent, according to you is religion interwoven into the Arab-Israeli conflict?

Unfortunately Muslims, including the Palestinians are trying to politicize religion because the politicization of religion is a very attractive thing for Muslims around the world and this is exactly also what Mahmoud Abbas is doing, what Hamas is doing, what Hezbollah is doing and all of the terrorists around the world who are using Islam against the Jews, are doing. The main problem is that we don’t have right now a serious, charismatic sheik or imam to come and to stand up and say, “By what you are doing you are bringing more and more tragedy upon us and other people” and this is leading me to the current situation in Jerusalem and Al Aqsa, where the Israelis have decided to put metal detectors after the terrorist attack of last Friday. Listen, if you go to the Kotel you go through electronic gates, what is the problem? While the Muslims refuse today to enter Al Aqsa through the metal detectors this means that we are trying to incite the Islamic world against Israel and unfortunately it looks like it is going very smoothly. I am sure that beside Mecca and Medina there are mosques throughout the world were you enter by going through some kind of security control, why not here? I don’t want to be killed inside Al Aqsa or outside it. I don’t want to be a shahid. I don’t want my child to be a shahid. If you kill you kill, never mind what you call yourself. This is the tragedy in my opinion and I think there is a great problem today with the Muslims non with Islam, because it seems to me that the Muslim attitude today is completely against the rules of Islam. So I wish that the Muslims will wake up one day and start realizing what they are causing for themselves.

What is your opinion of the Palestinian Authority, and in general of Palestinian leadership?

I would never trust the Palestinian leadership neither in the West Bank nor in the Gaza Strip. The main job of the Palestinian leadership is how to continue keeping the Palestinians as hostages for the sake of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This is the main aim. We are the hostages of our leadership we are not the hostages of Israel, not of the occupation. It is exactly the opposite. If we look today what is surrounding me here in the Middle East we will find that compared to other realities around what goes one here, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, makes it the safest place to be. I don’t want to be in Syria, I don’t want to be in Iraq, I don’t want to be in Yemen. The main problem is the blind eyes of the international community in relation to the Palestinian leadership. It looks like that the international community wants a sort of revenge against the Jewish people by using the Palestinians and the Palestinian leadership, it looks like Europe is going backwards to its history, because Antisemitism was founded in Europe not in the Islamic countries. Europe today is giving more and more power to the Palestinian leadership for it to continue to refuse any kind of deal with Israel and it looks like that the Palestinians have no choice right now until Abbas will go away. I have a little bit of hope that after Abbas probably our situation will get better. I hope that a young charismatic serious and courageous Palestinian leader will come after Abbas and that probably will give a great hope not only to the Palestinians but also to the Israelis.

I don’t think that the any of the names you have mentioned can represent a real future for the Palestinians. To me the main option today for an alternative leadership for the Palestinians is probably Mohammed Dahlan, who recently made a very interesting deal with Egypt in relation to Gaza, a deal that was accepted by Al Sisi and by Hamas. This means that Mohammed Dahlan will control the Rafah passage between Gaza and Egypt, not Hamas, and if this will happen the Rafah passage will be probably open for twenty four hours a day. This will progressively weaken Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank, because from what it seems today, the relationship between Abbas and Al Sisi is not a 100% good. Abbas is very upset about the fact that Al Sisi is allowing Dahlan to enter in Cairo and even to conduct a press conference over there. So, my hope is that this deal will be finalized as the Egyptian government wants to hit two birds with one stone. The first bird is that of keeping the situation calm between Hamas and Israel while the second one is to allow Al Sisi to fight against terrorism without Hamas intervention in Sinai. If this deal will succeed, and I believe it will, the situation in Gaza will improve.

You are an outspoken critic of the BDS movement which is quite popular in Europe and has been doing an effective campaign in campuses in the USA. Many people think that the BDS is fighting for the right of the Palestinian people. This is the opposite of what you think. Would you like to specify?

These people are trying to benefit themselves instead of benefiting the Palestinians, they have found for themselves a job forever. Boycott will never bring peace. The BDS is not really seeking any kind of peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis, what they are trying to accomplish is one important mission, declaring that Israel has no right to exist. This is what they are working for. As a consequence of the closing of factories in the West Bank, thousands of Palestinians workers have been kicked out. I haven’t seen any instance of the BDS helping Palestinian workers who have lost their job as a consequence of boycott, of moving the factories from one place to another one. I haven’t seen the BDS trying to cover the medical insurance of those workers who lost their jobs. Unfortunately some Palestinian NGO’s are supporting the BDS because Europe put it as a condition, “If you want us to fund you you must obey our policies and to sign in favour of the BDS”. This is exactly what Mustafa Baraghouti is doing today around Europe, collecting money for his organization. The good news is that BDS policy has no real effect on Israel. If you succeed in closing one small factory or another small factory, be it, but these are certainly not the main source of income for the state of Israel. Israel economy is not based on Coca Cola, or on Soda, Israel has technology, has military equipment, has start ups. Three months ago there has been an agreement signed between Israel and Jordan according to which Israel will export natural gas to Jordan for 15 billions dollars. Where is the BDS? Show me the BDS in Jordan. Egypt is going also to sign another agreement with Israel. Where is the BDS of Egypt? The BDS is very lucky, and for one simple reason, it is operating in Europe and in no Arab country. If they will operate in an Arab country they will be put in jail for life. They know exactly where are the most comfortable places for them, Europe and the campuses in the USA. I met a lot of these people in the United States, they demonstrated against me, they published leaflets against me, they disturbed my lectures from time to time. These people just don’t believe in the freedom of speech, they hate the freedom of speech. They think that they are the only ones who have the right to speak, but that I, as a Palestinian that doesn’t share their view, have no right to speak. My big question to the BDS is, who authorized you to speak on my behalf?

During the First Intifada you were a senior field researcher for B’Tselm, the Jerusalem based independent NGO whose aim is, like that of another NGO, Breaking the Silence, to document supposed human rights violations by Israel in the Israeli occupied territories. What is your opinion today about these organizations?

These organizations today have their own precise political agenda. They want to satisfy their funders rather than the Palestinians and their rights. I didn’t see any evidence that organizations like B’Tselem or Breaking the Silence have done anything positive to change the current situation. B’Tselem has been operating from 1989, and what has been its big achievement? Zero, just zero. Their main agenda is a political one with the cover up of human rights. For the most it is European policy. Just imagine that Europe tomorrow decides to stop funding these organizations like B’Tselem, Breaking the Silence or the BDS, what will happen of the people working for them? They will become jobless. Germany is one of the biggest founders of B’Tselem. It provides more than half a million euro a year, and I am talking of just one funding country, not to mention what comes from France, Spain, the UK. B’Tselem today looks very much like an Israeli UN. It is funded by governaments, not by fundations. This is the issue. One of the sources of the Arab-Israeli conflict is the European money. If this flow of cash from Europe and also from the US will stop, I am very positive that the situation will change for the better.

What option do you endorse for a solution to the conflict, a one state solution, a two state solution, emirates, the incorporation of part of the West Bank into Jordan and Gaza into Egypt

To return to the pre ’67 status which means that the West Bank will be annexed to Jordan and Gaza will be annexed to Egypt is unrealistic. Neither of these countries will accept it. Even the confederation between the Palestinian state and Jordan has been rejected. The Palestinian Authority today is much more interested in a three state solution for two people. Hamas is fighting for its own Islamic Emirate in Gaza, Abbas is fighting for his own empire in the West Bank and then there is the state of Israel. This is how we have been living in the past ten years since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in 2007. Forget for ever that any unity or reconciliation will take place between the West Bank and Gaza. The situation is very difficult and this makes any solution even more difficult. We, the Palestinians, need to wait at least for twenty years and maybe, by then a charismatic leader will come forward from the coming generation and will take new initiatives, but with the leadership we have today no peace initiative will come out.

When we talk about Palestinian society what are we exactly talking about?

We are essentially talking about tribes. In 1977 when Sadat visited Israel he gave an interview to one of Israel’s major newspapers, Yedioth Ahronot. One of the questions that was asked to him by the interviewer was how many Arabs countries existed in the world. Sadat answered, ‘One, the Republic of Egypt’, so the journalist asked, ‘What about the others?’ and Sadat said, ‘The others are tribes with flags’. Each Palestinian movement has its own flag, the PLO, Fatah, Hamas, whatever you want. Yes, Sadat was right, we are tribes with flags.

According to you, what are the main problems that affect Palestinian society?

The main problems stem from culture and education. In our culture we don’t have an education that teaches peace or the acceptance of the other, we don’t have a civil society. These are concepts coming from Europe, from the United States, in other words, from the West, but they don’t belong to us. So, as I said, culture is the major problem and another one, which is also deeply connected to culture, is that Palestinian society is based on the Quran instead than on the realities of daily life.

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Look at my gorgeous friend Hanna wearing one of my t-shirts called ”Made in Israel”! Want one? Order here: https://eiestore.org/

Many other designs, styles and colors for men and women available as well, all by yours truly. International fast delivery, good prices and great quality from for instance American Apparel. Let’s show the BDS that their boycott isn’t working, and look great at the same time! A win-win if you ask me!

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Being a BDSer, a Jew hater and an Israel basher should automatically qualify you for a job as a writer on the National Enquirer and the like. “Woman impregnated by alien, gives birth to one-eyed triplets!” They really keep the same standard when it comes to speaking and writing the truth. Must be fun coming up with all these lies and have ignorant idiots believe it, no questions asked.

Of course, reading about alien babies and ridiculous things like Israel being an apartheid state or that we eat Palestinian children for Pesach, it is easy to shake it off as stupidities for morons, but subtle lies, devious twists of words, are much more dangerous, especially when published by a somewhat respectable magazine like Time.

When there’s no war, there are other ways to discredit Israel, and boy are they being creative. Take the horrible disaster in Nepal for instance, where Israel, as always, were very quick to send very much needed help: a 260-member team (including a medical staff of 122 doctors, nurses and paramedics), and 95 tons of humanitarian and medical supplies – help that the struggling Nepalese population is eternally grateful for. In fact, Israel is doing much more than most countries, because that is who we are and what we do.

So, how could this, the field hospitals and the search-and-rescue operations, be turned against Israel you ask?

Besides the usual crack heads accusing Israel of doing this for PR purposes only, as a way of improving our blood stained reputation (yeah, we’re really that cynical and evil), Time also found a way. Of all the good things Israel is doing in Nepal, they decided to focus on this: Israel Evacuates Surrogate Babies From Nepal but Leaves the Mothers Behind.What the hell, Time?

The truth is in the details they say. So what do you do if the details are meant to deceive you? Was it a simple, honest mistake that Time called it “surrogate babies with their mothers” instead of what it really is: “surrogate mothers with (someone else’s) babies”? I don’t think so, because these “little” errors only happen when writing about Israel. It’s exactly the same as having a headline that says “Israel attacks Gaza” but fails to mention why (hundreds of rockets being fired at Israel for months). Small, insidious changes of headlines and copy, knowing that most people never even have the energy to read the entire article or investigate the story by themselves.

There’s nothing new about using surrogate mothers, and Israelis are definitely not the only ones doing it. There’s nothing strange about a country saving their own citizens (including babies) when there’s been a disaster like the one in Nepal. So why is it such a big deal when Israel does it? Think what you want about using surrogates, but understand what it really is before passing judgement. These women are not genetically linked to these babies, and after the birth the contract is over – they are not being paid to stick around as nannies. Of course you should feel sorry for everyone suffering from this disaster, but where do you draw the line? If Israel needs to bring the surrogate mothers to Israel, maybe they should also bring their parents, their own children and their siblings. Who says they even want to? What other country would you ask this of? And more importantly, why the hell is this even a newsworthy story?

Reading the comments to this article is both sickening and comical. Sickening because people are so happy to have found more “proof” that Israel is the devil himself. Comical because it shows how unintelligent some of the people are.

One wrote: “Of course they abandon them, Israel also kicks Christians out, just for being Christian.” Like hello, have you read the news lately? Israel is the only country in the Middle East where Christians are safe! And the fact that the quote “How can it be that none of the human interest stories or compassion-filled posts mentioned these women, who came from a difficult socioeconomic background … to rent their wombs … who now, like the babies they’ve just had, are also stuck in the disaster zone?” is written by a Jewish author, Alon-Lee Green, in an Israeli newspaper (Haaretz) seems lost on most. I guess it’s not interesting that Israel is a democracy with free press and freedom of speech. If we were such awful people, would we even discuss this matter amongst ourselves? Or how about this one: “ZIONISTS are the new Nazis…” Lovely, huh?

I should be used to it by now. The way the media always portrays Israel in a negative way is the standard. In fact, when they are writing something positive and unbiased for a change, I always wonder if some intern accidentally wrote it and it slipped through by mistake. The twists and turns of the truth, the propaganda, the outright lies – and the ignorant people who gladly join in the hate choir singing what a horrible country Israel is (not to mention the awful JEWS living there) – are an every day occurrence and has been for years. But still. An awful disaster with so many dead and wounded, and all you can focus on are surrogate mothers?

We should ignore them. The only thing that matters are the people we help. We are making their lives better. They will remember. The child that’s miraculously saved from the rubble will remember. The woman that receives baby food for her children will remember. And the man that receives medical treatment, hot food and a warm bed will as well. They will know the truth and so will we. We will not stoop to our antagonists level. We will continue doing good work and helping people in need, even the ones that deserve it the least, like Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh’s grand-daughter, daughter and mother-in-law, who were all treated at Israeli hospitals. It’s good karma for us, and bad karma for the haters and the ones spreading vicious lies.

So, go on and hate. Let it eat you up from the inside. We will not spend any more time trying to convince you we are good, because you will never change, no matter how many facts you are presented with.

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Despite everything that happens here, I still feel that Israel is the sanest place in the world. In fact, we seem to be the only country that still has its head straight on, while the Europeans run around like ISIS-beheaded chickens. The latest balagan? Hamas is “temporarily” removed from the EU terrorist list due to a technicality, while an anti-Israel conference is being organised in Geneva.

Sometimes I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Seriously, what is wrong with everyone? The only democracy in the Middle East is boycotted, shunned, ostracised, obsessively criticised, hated, lied about and attacked in every way imaginable – while our terrorist neighbours are left in peace to continue with their dirty, evil deeds.

We are the light unto the nations, even though the rest of the world is too engulfed in their own darkness to see it. We are the bullied new kid on the block that will grow up, move on and shine – while the bullies will get older, stay put and live miserable lives beating their wives and kids.

Look what we have achieved since our beginning as a state in 1948. The heat and desert has not stopped us from making it bloom. Wars have not torned us apart. Suicide bombers have not stopped us from living our lives. Boycotts have not stopped our economy from thriving. Our love for life is still here. Our strong spirit grows stronger every day. Our sense of family and community is unbreakable. We are friggin’ amazing!

So why stay in this stormy, dysfunctional relationship? It’s time to move on. Can you hear it? Israel is calling you to come home dear Jews in the diaspora. It’s time now. You are needed here. Take all the culture, innovation, science, spirituality and chutzpah that you have and come! You are wasting your time in countries that don’t appreciate you. You deserve better. They deserve less. Leave them in the dark and come here and make this country shine even brighter. You know they will miss us, but then it’ll be too late.

It’s time to break up with Europe. For good.

Sorry, we are just not that into you. This relationship isn’t working. It’s not us, it’s you. Really.

Goodbye.

(Originally posted on my blog at The Times of Israel, December 9, 2014)